Bloom investment gets approval from Hearts shareholders

Tony Bloom's proposed investment of close to £10m in Heart of Midlothian moved a step closer after it was approved at an extraordinary general meeting of the club's shareholders.The Brighton & Hove Albion owner is to invest £9.86m in return for a 29% stake via non-voting shares.The transaction was overwhelmingly backed by members of Foundation of Hearts – the supporters' group who hold a majority shareholding.That led to Wednesday's EGM and an update from Tynecastle said that "all of the resolutions have been passed".

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Reuters

32 minutes ago

• Reuters

Exclusive: Metro's biggest shareholder open to selling stake, sources say

LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski Bacal is open to selling his majority stake in British lender Metro Bank and has received interest from investors, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Gilinski, who sits on Metro's board as a non-executive director and who owns a 52.87% stake via his Spaldy Investments vehicle, has been considering options for his stake including a sale, after a rebound in the bank's share price, the people said. He became the majority shareholder after playing a critical role in its 325 million pound ($436 million) equity recapitalisation in 2023.

The Independent

41 minutes ago

• The Independent

Glasgow given go-ahead to introduce a tourist tax

Tourists in Glasgow will start paying extra for their accommodation after the city gave the green light to introduce a tourist tax by 2027. In a bid to generate £16m a year for the Scottish city, visitors heading to Glasgow will be charged five per cent of their accommodation bill extra, which will work out to £4.83 per night on average. Under national legislation, the council has to undergo an 18-month implementation phase, so the levy will not be rolled out until January 2027 at the earliest. The decision was made in a city administration committee on Thursday, with 1.5 per cent of each levy being retained by accommodation providers, while the rest will be invested in Glasgow's infrastructure projects and events. The funding will also be used for public services, such as street sweeping, maintenance of city landmarks and improvements to parks, which will benefit both residents and visitors. A council spokesperson said there was support from all parties on the committee, including the SNP, Labour, Greens and Conservatives. The move to introduce the levy came following a public consultation that started in January between local trade bodies and accommodation businesses. Deputy Council Leader Richard Bell told The Independent: 'Many Glaswegians will be familiar with visitor levies, which are relatively common abroad. 'The levy means that some of the people who enjoy what Glasgow has to offer, but do not pay local taxes, will be asked to make a small contribution to the city. 'In turn, that money will be invested in making Glasgow a better place for citizens and visitors alike – which will benefit our tourist trade.' Green Cllr Blair Anderson, whose motion started the process, said: 'The tourist tax is going to be a game-changer for Glasgow, delivering more money to tidy up our city and make it even more attractive for visitors and residents alike. 'A small contribution from tourists will mean we can invest millions more in street sweeping, bin collections, and getting Glasgow looking good again. 'I'm glad that Greens in Holyrood got this law passed, and I'm grateful to all councillors who have worked with me over recent months to get this tax in place as soon as possible.' The levy will apply to all hotels, hostels, guest houses, bed & breakfasts and self-catering accommodation. Glasgow currently averages around 2.9 million overnight stays each year, which generates an expenditure of £250m. The Visitor Levy Act became law in September 2024. This allows councils in Scotland to tax overnight accommodation if they wish to do so. This devolved power has been met with mixed responses, with Edinburgh becoming the first to vote in January to add a five per cent surcharge on visitors' overnight stays by 2026. Meanwhile, South Ayrshire council is set to abandon its plans for a visitor levy in light of residents' and businesses' concerns that the area does not warrant one for the number of visitors it receives.

Times

an hour ago

• Times

Dundee University had ‘overbearing leadership and lax financial controls'

An 'overbearing' principal, poor financial controls and a lack of transparency contributed to Dundee University's financial meltdown, a scathing report has concluded. The results of the independent investigation carried out by Professor Pamela Gillies were published on Thursday by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and suggest that much of the harm which resulted in a £35 million deficit was self-inflicted. Gillies was tasked with looking into the problems, which threatened to lead to hundreds of jobs losses. The Scottish government has already provided a £22 million bailout to ensure the immediate future of the institution. Gillies, who is a former principal of Glasgow Caledonian University, found that the University of Dundee had failed to adequately address issues around declining numbers of overseas students and did not take cost-saving action early enough, meaning it was 'set up to fail' in its 2024-25 financial year. Professor Shane O'Neill, who took over as interim principal in December, resigned immediately after the report was published. Tricia Bey, the acting chairwoman of the university court, and Carla Rossini, convener of the finance and policy committee, also departed with immediate effect. Jenny Gilruth, the education secretary, said: 'It is evident from the findings that there are serious questions which must be answered by the University of Dundee's management team. 'This is obviously a difficult time for the university but I welcome the decisive action which has been taken with the changes in leadership. It is vital that we now move to a period of stability to ensure the institution can move forward and thrive into the future.' O'Neill, previously the deputy vice-chancellor, and Professor Iain Gillespie, the former principal who left last December, along with other senior finance managers were described as not having 'a culture of openness' at all levels. Gillespie's 'overbearing leadership style' was also highlighted as well as his dislike of 'awkward' questioning, while 'dissent or challenge was routinely shut down'. Submissions made to the inquiry stated that Gillespie 'frequently demonstrated hubris, or excessive pride' in his role. Financial controls were lacking in many areas with the university actually breaching its banking covenants, although that information was not properly conveyed to oversight committees. Many investment decisions 'were not appropriately agreed against their effects on the University's sustainability'. The report also called into question the 'credibility and accuracy' of the documents which were put forward for scrutiny by the university court. It said: 'Information was generally presented in a manner which made it difficult to fully understand the true financial performance of the university.' The 64-page document notes that poor oversight meant 'operational and investment decisions were made without awareness of the university's cash position'. It also raised questions over how more than £40 million of cash was spent, having been raised from selling shares in the successful university spin-out company Exscientia, which uses artificial intelligence to aid drug discovery and development. It was supposed to have been ringfenced for 'strategic development' but instead appears to have been used in the university's day-to-day cash spending Alongside the poor financial governance, the cash problems were worsened by decisions to continue adding new members of staff instead of implementing a recruitment freeze. The total headcount peaked at more than 4,340 but had fallen slightly to about 4,100 by April this year. Francesca Osowska, chief executive of the SFC, said: 'Given the seriousness of the situation, it was important that the investigation was conducted with rigour and transparency. 'The report has identified a range of issues that contributed to the financial challenges facing the university; however, it is quite clear that there have been failures in financial monitoring and reporting, and failures in governance.' Michael Marra, a Labour MSP who used to work at the university, said: 'The report shows that the institution was failed catastrophically by a small group of executive leaders entirely out of their depth and cowed by a hubristic principal who brooked no dissent. 'Details of Iain Gillespie's leadership style are deeply troubling; sidelining, speaking over or publicly criticising women in the university who dared to speak up. 'There were also clear failures of governance, with inaccurate reports which masked the true financial picture, and public statements by the principal that were purposefully misleading.' Miles Briggs, the Scottish Conservative MSP, said: 'This is a devastating report into the gross mismanagement that has existed for far too long at the University of Dundee. 'Senior figures were told what they had to do to get Dundee University into a sustainable position but they repeatedly failed to act, and covered-up the true state of its financial position.'